A Thankful Sunday

My thanksgiving today comes out of the events of the morning, namely our Sunday School class and the morning worship service at church. Here are the three that came to me during the worship service.

1] I'm thankful for artisans, one in particular, Paul Friesen. Paul is a member of our church, a menber of our S.S. class, and an art teacher at Hesston College at the age of 80+. He has retired but somehow is still teaching. Paul has many works of art made of clay and wood and I'm sure other items. He recently finished a sculpture made from a cedar log for the centennial celebration at Hesston College. He has made a wood sculpture for our church which is always on the platform on Sunday mornings. I looked for pictures of these two but could not find one that would scan on my computer very well. Paul has taught me that one can "preach a sermon" from such works of art. I appreciate that and what he has done over the years to open the eyes of all who have heard him to the world around us in new ways. Thank you Paul for your influence in my life. And thank you Lord for giving Paul, and others, the gifts to bring such things to life in new ways.

2] I'm thankful for baptism. Our morning worship service included the baptism of four high school students. It is always good to see persons of this age make a commitment to Christ and to the church in baptism. I appreciate the way in which our pastors emphasize what this experience means in their walk of faith. My prayer for these youth is that they will grow in their commitment to Jesus and learn to follow Him in their lives.

3] I'm thankful for my own baptism. During the baptism service I was made to think of my own baptism. At the time I was baptized it didn't really mean all that much to me. I did it at the prompting of my parents and because others of my age were doing it. I was only ten years of age and didn't understand what baptism meant at all. I regret all of the following years when I didn't follow the commitment I had made very well. However at the age of 19 I renewed my covenant with the Lord and the church and began to grow in my faith. At that time I would have liked to be rebaptized but that was not something that was done in our church at that time. And so I needed to rely on my baptism nine years preceding that time and seek to follow the commitment I had made. I'm thankful that I was able to do that and to begin a new life with Christ that has continued to develop through all of the ensuing years. And I'm still a --

Pilgrim on the way